Hey Baby It’s Hot Outside!

You need relief and asap!  In Western North Carolina we have you covered.  Between waterfalls, swimming holes, and numerous lakes you will be able to cool off in no time!

In Asheville:

French Broad River rafting/tubing:

French Broad Outfitters

Zen Tubing

 

White Water Rafting

Yes, that’s my daughter in upper right on the Nantahala

You can raft close by:

Asheville Rafting

but I’ll be honest…if you want intense rafting go to Nantahala:

Nantahala

Waterfalls:

Dupont and Pisgah National Forest have plenty and great swimming holes, waterfalls and hiking

Dupont

Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock

 

Lakes…

I’m biased to Lake Jocassee and Keowee in Upstate SC.  They offer clean, blue water and amazing fishing!

Lake Jocassee

 

Keowee-Toxaway

WNC lakes

WNC lakes

 

And of course you need campgrounds

Keowee-Toxaway campgrounds

Keowee Mile Park

 

 

Asheville and restaurants!  How can I keep up?  It seems like every time I head downtown or to West Asheville a new restaurant pops up.  I have updated my restaurant link with a few new (to me) favorites.

Polanco is right downtown and serves contemporary Mexican cuisine.

Polanco

 

In the River Arts District, what used to be the Junction has become Vivian’s and is still a great place to eat!

Vivian

I am a little slow on this one, but Tupelo Honey keeps expanding locations.  I am adding their link to the South Asheville location in my restaurant options.

Tupelo Honey

It seems like Asheville cannot get enough of pizza joints and fried chicken hot spots.  There are plenty to choose from!

Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack

Homegrown

Little Pigs BBQ

Circle B BBQ in Fletcher

Standard Pizza

MOD Pizza

Blaze Pizza

White Labs

And I must include my three gotos…

Asheville Pizza

All Souls Pizza

Barley’s Taproom

Forgot to pack your lunch?  No worries, the Citizen-Times came up with a list of cheap places to eat lunch:

Lunch

 

 

What is Lolo?  Their website highlighting Asheville can explain everything about the program:

Lolo – Asheville

Briefly, “LoLo is on a mission to Keep the Local Vibe Alive in communities across the country.”  It’s a way that companies can provide gifts to customers that encourage them to support local businesses.  Beverly-Hanks gives us the opportunity to use Lolo and give our contacts little freebie treats ranging anywhere from a snack to discounts on bear/wines at the local venues.  Our last three months brought these yummy freebies:

Japanese fries at GanShan Station, Asheville Chocolates treats, and $20 towards a purchase at metro wines!  Wow!

If you would like for me to add you to my list for free monthly treats, please private message, email or text me!

March may be my least favorite month of the year!  Valentines is over, February tends to fly by, and then I find myself dreading a long, cold month before spring begins to appear.  Well, this year I decided I need to change my attitude!  So, I am planning something fun to do each week.

Let’s start with a winter hike.  Winter hikes are fabulous because you can bundle up in layers and then as you start to warm up, shed some of those layers and enjoy views for miles.  If you are blessed with an unusually warm day definitely take advantage before leaves begin to appear on the trees.  Please see my “Hikes” link for suggestions.

On those cold days, take a mental health day and head to the many slopes within an hour of Asheville to tube, board, or ski.

Cataloochee

WolfRidge

Footloose is playing at the ACT through March 3rd.

Asheville Community Theatre

Micro-breweries:  Make several visits this month…Mardi-Gras, March Madness, and of course, St. Patty’s

There are always several things to do in and around St. Patrick’s Day.

From the Citizen-Times…

“Asheville Catholic School hosts its 12th Annual Shamrock Run on March 17. Take part in a 5K (9:15 a.m. start) or a 10K (9 a.m. start); both routes wind through North Asheville neighborhoods. There’s also a Fun Run at 8:30 a.m. Proceeds from this event benefit the O’Brien and William Edward Gibbs Memorial Scholarship Fund at ACS. The Gibbs brothers died in a tragic car crash in September 2017. Both had attended ACS.”

Register for Run

  From what I have read, all of the breweries are having special events and tastings!

Try something new!

The Asheville Humane Society hosts Yoga with Kitties.

Asheville Humane Society

And while you’re at it, sign up to volunteer somewhere.  Another great place to volunteer is at Brother Wolf.

Brother Wolf

Finally, the current display at the Biltmore is “A Vanderbilt House Party – the Gilded Age” which offers elegant clothing and interesting stories throughout the rooms.

Biltmore

 

And…Love is in the Air…

Guys, if you haven’t yet made reservations, you better get on it quick!

Knowing Asheville the way I do, these are the things that I would like my honey to reserve…

Grove Park Inn Spa Treatments.  Since Valentine’s Day is on a Wednesday we have lots of leeway.  If you don’t yet have a reservation, try for the weekend before or after.   Many other massage places are very nice as well such as Sensibilities, Spa Theology, and Sparrow Spa.

For dinner reservations, my favorite “cozy” places are:

 

The Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village.  Because the restaurant is in an historic house built in 1895, the rooms are small and offer a lot of intimacy at your personal table.  Plus, the food is fantastic!

Jerusalem Garden has cushions with surrounding curtains to sit on.  You can cozy up to your sweetheart and not feel uncomfortable in a public place.

Most downtown AVL restaurants are crowded  and the tables are sandwiched in.  If you book a downtown restaurant ask for a booth in the back like these shown at Modesto…

After dinner, chocolate and coffee…Chocolate Fetish, French Broad Chocolate Lounge, Kilwins, Chocolate Gems are all divine!

And…please see these additional links for the best chocolate…

Asheville Chocolates

Baxley’s Chocolates

The Chocolate Fetish

French Broad Chocolate Lounge

http://vanschocolates.com/

If you are making a weekend of it, breakfast at Tupelo Honey, Sunny Point Cafe, Isis, or Early Girl…  Yes, ISIS is a music venue, but has an amazing brunch as well.  And you can make a reservation which most others will not allow.

 

Followed by a long winter hike.  Winter views are amazing, and the weather is typically not too cold.  Wear layers!

Bearwallow Mountain…

 

For more suggestions see.

romanticasheville.com

Cheers!

 

Thanksgiving is upon us, and Christmas will be here before we know it!  Start planning now for events to get in the spirit, ways to volunteer, and great places to shop.

 

My favorites are the Grove Park Inn Gingerbread competition and the Biltmore Estate Christmas decorations.  There is also the downtown holiday parade, Biltmore Village carolers, and beautiful light displays.

Head to the Arboretum or Lake Julian for their festival of lights.

Visit Explore Asheville for a complete calendar of events:

Explore Asheville

Also, for volunteer activities, I have worked with Manna Food Bank, Eblen Charities, and the Eliada Home.  For more information, please click on the following link…

Asheville Today

And finally, Shopping!  Please support the locally owned shops and boutiques downtown.  You will find an abundance of unique gifts.  My favorites for the girls in our lives are Hazel Twenty, Lost and Found, and Traveling Chic Boutique.

Cheers!!!

Where is the fall color? Due to the overnight temperatures being 9 degrees warmer on average, this is a record year for fall…and not in a good way.  The leaves are changing but seem to be falling off the trees as rapidly as they are changing color.  If you’ve made the trek to Western North Carolina this weekend anyway, please see the list of where you might want to enjoy the beauty of fall.

Higher elevations like Mount Mitchell and Craggy gardens have already dropped most of the leaves.  Elevations between 2000-3500 should have the best color this weekend and the first weekend in November.  According to the “Asheville Citizen-Times” writers:

• Chimney Rock
• Cashiers
• Blue Ridge Parkway at Haywood – Jackson County line, milepost 431, or Waterrock Knob at milepost 455.
• Whitewater Falls, off N.C. 281 near Gorges State Park

So what about things to do regarding Halloween?  Festivities begin this weekend.  You may want to start out by getting your costume at the tent by the Asheville Mall.

Haunted Tours are a must!  Again, according to the citizen times, you have plenty to choose from:

LaZoom Ghost Tours

Pinhead’s Graveyard

Haunted High

Howl-o-Ween

Haunted Trail

Finally, take a look at all of these Halloween parties throughout town:

• MG Road: Monster Makeout Dance Party, 254-4363
• Grove House Entertainment Complex, 505-1612
• The Mothlight Halloween Party, 252-5433
• Zansa: A Celebration of Masks at Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 575-2737
• Nightbell’s Halloween Masquerade Gala, 575-0375

Asheville gets inundated with what I call “The Leaf People” at this time of year.  No worries (other than traffic), we love our tourists and showing off our vibrant city.  So please see the links for activities, where to stay, and fall real estate news:

I own a lovely vacation rental in a planned short-term rental community.  The home(s) in Cedar Cliff Village are perfect for groups…wedding guests, bachelor/bachelorette weekends, family reunions, or just girls/guy weekend get togethers!  Please use the link below to book.  Mine is called “King of the Hill” and sleeps 9.

Inspired Getaway Asheville

TopTenTrails

Too tired or sore to hike, then go for a drive and listen to this playlist from local musicians:

Autumn Playlist

The Blue Ridge Parkway is such a lovely place to see fall color.  Our Beverly-Hanks blog has more great information:

Blue Ridge Parkway

Ready for Selfies in and around Asheville?

15 Most Instagrammable Spots

And finally, what’s going on with Real Estate?  Our inventory keeps getting lower and lower especially in more affordable price ranges.

Beverly-Hanks Market Research Center

If you are thinking about selling, try out our “cool” new tool to get 3 estimates of your home’s worth AND to see the number of buyers in our network looking for a home just like yours!